Prof. Kaye rallies global leaders to seek wider support of International Criminal Court

12-20-2012

Iris Yokoi

On a recent November weekend, 30 diplomats, activists and academics
from across the globe gathered in Laguna Beach. But they weren’t in
Southern California for a sun-and-fun vacation – and in fact, the
weather was unusually cold and wet this particular weekend.

The independent court, created in 1998 by the Rome Statute for the
International Criminal Court, has attracted widespread global support,
with 121 states as parties today. But the Court is still experiencing
growing pains: the United States, China and other major powers have not
embraced the Court, and the Court has had difficulty getting cooperation
from governments in enforcing arrest warrants and other matters.

The UN Security Council, which has referred two situations (Sudan and
Libya) to the ICC for investigation and prosecution, could play a major
role in encouraging and possibly even requiring governments to
cooperate with the ICC, but has done little to support the ICC.

Prof. Kaye, who worked extensively on international justice issues
during his stint at the State Department in the 1990s and early 2000s,
decided to address this lack of support by the UN Security Council. He
developed the idea while at UCLA School of Law, where he worked with the
foundation Humanity United, which agreed to support this project. The UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations also played an important role in formulating the ideas that led to the project.

The project was launched in 2011. Kaye’s students in UCLA’s
International Justice Clinic conducted research related to support for
the ICC, including interviewing diplomats and activists in New York and
participating in a major conference on the subject in London. More
recently, research was conducted in Beijing and Moscow, leading up to
the high-level workshop in Laguna Beach in late November 2012.

The workshop
brought together leading figures in international justice, including
current and former diplomats from Costa Rica, China, Russia,
Liechtenstein, South Africa, France, the United States, and the United
Kingdom; non-governmental leaders from organizations such as Open
Society, Human Rights Watch, the Coalition for the ICC, and the
International Centre for Transitional Justice; representatives from all
branches of the ICC itself, including a senior-ranking judge and senior
registry official; and academics from UC Irvine, UCLA, Renmin University
in Beijing, American University, and Oxford University. Full list and bios of participants here.

While rain and wind swirled outside, the participants kept warm with
intense discussions, exploring the politics and goals of different
entities and mapping out possible steps the Security Council could take
to improve support of the ICC.

Prof. Kaye and Humanity United collaborators, to be assisted by students in UCI Law’s new International Justice Clinic launched by Kaye, will compile a report based on the year of research
and the workshop discussion. They hope to present the report and
recommendations at the United Nations in the spring.

“At the same time, we are thinking through how to engage key
governments not naturally seen as supporters of the Court, especially
China, Russia, and the United States,” said Kaye. He hopes to host
workshops in Beijing and Moscow, “where the building of awareness and
understanding is critical.”